2.6 Dynamical reference frames

A Conventional Dynamical Reference Frame (CDTF) specifies the planetary and lunar ephemerides, which are required, among other purposes, to determine the tidal potential at any point in the solar system, to determine the barycentre of the solar system, and to compute the geometry of the space-time continuum in the solar system. Besides orbital parameters, the CDTF also specifies the mass values of the bodies in the solar system.

The most recent frame for planetary and lunar ephemeries are the JPL Development Ephemeris DE405 and the Lunar Ephemeris LE405, respectively (see http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/iau-comm4 and the link "Where to obtain ephemerides"). These ephemerides have been adjusted to all relevant observational data and are given in the ICRF. It is interesting to note that some of the planetary mass values have changed considerable from the older IAU 1976 values over the DE200 to the values used for DE405 \cite[see table 3.1 in ][]{mccarthy+pet2003}.